Elastic multi-ply material and elastic shoe embodying the same



Nov. 3, 1936. I E. F. ROBERTS ELASTIC MUL'II-PLY MATERIAL AND ELASTICSHOE EMBODYING THE SAME Filed Feb. 19, 1936 ATTORNE Patented Nov. 3,1936 PATENT OFFICE I ELASTIC MULTI -PLY MATERIAL AND ELAS- TIC SHOEEMBODYING THE SAME Edward F. Roberts, Rye, N. Y., assignor to UnitedStates Rubber Products, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of DelawareApplication February 19, 1936, Serial No. 64,662

2 Claims.

fining the foot to an uncomfortable degree. The

reason why comfort has been difiicult to obtain in a stylish,neat-fitting shoe is that the leather and fabric heretofore used inshoes are non-elastic and while pliable do not contract and expand toaccommodate themselves to the rigorous movements of the foot.

The present invention contemplates shoes which will present a neat,stylish and ornamental appearance and at the same time will be capableof stretching and contracting to accommodate the foot movement.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide shoes'with elastic gores butsuch gores gave the shoes more or less of a patched and unattractiveappearance and the fabric face of the gore always presented a markedcontrast in appearance to the leather portions of the shoe.

The present invention also contemplates an elastic multi-ply materialwhich is peculiarly well adapted for use in high grade shoes of stylishappearance to impart both ornamental and elastic properties thereto andrelates more specifically to elastic multi-ply material formed with apleated or puckered leather face and elastic fabric back. The inventionfurther resides in the method of making the fabric.

The present invention also-resides in means for imparting a smoothrounded elastic edge to the elastic multi-ply sheet material.

The present invention further resides in a shoe having said elasticmulti-ply material embodied therein so that it presents an outer facethat is formed of pleated or puckered leather that may resemble closelyin'color and finish the leather of the rest of the shoe. 7

The above and other features of the invention wil be more fullyunderstgod from the following description when read in connectionwiththe accompanying drawing which illustrates good practical forms thereof.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan viewof a sheet of elastic multiply material constructedin accordance with the present invention and having indicated thereuponportions to be cuttherefrom;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a piece of elastic material which has been cutfrom the sheet of Fig. 1, the leather being partly turned back to showthe 'underlying elastic fabric;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the opposite face of the multi-ply sheet showniri Fig; 2;

Fig. 4 on an enlarged scale is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig.2;

Fig. 5 on an enlarged scale is a section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;I

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a shoe having embodied therein the pieceof elastic material shown 15 in Fig. 2; and i Fig. '7 is a plan view ofa modified type of multiply elastic material one sheet thereof beingpartially turned back.

The elastic multi-ply material of the present invention may be employedin men's, womens and childrens shoes but has been shown and describedherein in connection with womens shoes due to the emphasis of style andsnugness of fit in womens shoes. This multi-ply fabric may however beemployed for other purposes.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the material l0 shown therein, it is assumed,comprises a sheet of relatively thin flexible leather which has beenpleated or corrugated as at H by treating the leather in a pleatingmachine of well known construction. To the inner face of the sheet ofpleated or corrugated leather of Fig. 1 is secured a one-way stretchbacking sheet of elastic fabric l2 arranged so that the pleats will beextended as the fabric stretches. The fabric I2 is preferably acomparatively thin tightly woven material having a short strong stretchso that it will not be too thick or bulky in the shoe and will notstretch too easily. This elastic fabric is preferably formed ofrelatively fine elastic yarn I3 consisting of arubber core having atextile cover wound thereupon so as to hold the core under tension whenthe yarn is at rest, and the yarn l3 may be introduced in the. fabriceither as warp or weft.

It is important that the sheets l0 and I2 be firmly united and this maybe accomplished by applying to a face of the elastic fabric l2 a coatingof latex or other strong cement I4 and then pressing the pleated leathersheet l0 firmly thereagainst, and the corrugated sheet is preferablysecured to the elastic fabric while the latter is in an unstretched oronly slightly stretched condition.

The multi-ply sheet material shown in Fig. 1 55 may be made as large ascan be secured from the skin from which the leather is formed and afterthis leather sheet has been pleated and backed with the elastic fabric12, as above described, sections of various sizesand shapes may be outtherefrom as indicated by the dotted lines a: in Fig. l and as shown infull lines in Figs. 2 and 3. These sections may have straight or curvededges, as desired, and the lines of cut may extend longitudinally andtransversely or in any other desired direction with respect to the weaveof the fabric l2 due largely to the fact that the elastic fabric I2 isso tightly woventhat the elastic yarn l3 when out will not slip or pullback in the fabric.

It will be seen from the foregoing that as a result of the presentinvention a piece of elastic two-ply material, such as designated by ISin Figs. 2, 3, and 6 and of any desired size and configuration andhaving straight or curved edges may be provided by simply cutting thedesired section from the larger sheet of Fig. 1. This is of greatimportance because it enables sections I5 to be cut to any desired shapeor size for use in various portions of a shoe, or in other desiredfields of use. It also permits the upper edge of the section I5 to becut to conform to the desired curvature of the upper edge of the shoe aswill be apparent from Fig. 6.

It is important that this upper edgebe so finished that it will providea smooth, well rounded edge and at the same time will contract andexpand to accommodate the contraction and ex pansion of the multi-plymaterial in the shoe. This is accomplished in accordance with thepresent invention by providing along the upper edge of the elasticmulti-ply section 15 a narrow ribbon of woven elastic fabric l6 havingembodied therein the very fine elastic warps l1. This elastic ribbon maybe folded over the upper edge of the multi-ply fabric, as best shown inFig. 5 wherein it will be noted that one edge of the ribbon is securedto the upper edge of the leather sheet It] by elastic stitching l8,where-,

upon the ribbon is folded over and about the multi-ply fabric, as shown,and it is preferably secured in this position by cementing it to theunderlying fabric l2 and also by the elastic stitching l 9 which may beformed on the ordinary sewing machine by using non-elastic thread in theneedle and elastic yarn 20 in the bobbin. The elastic binding l6provides a smooth, round finished edge without appreciably restrictingthe stretch of the elastic multi-ply material.

The two-ply elastic section l5 consisting of a pleated leather face Illand an elastic backing fabric I2, is cut in the construction shown, foruse in the 'side or quarter area of the shoe near the front thereof, asshown in Fig. 6. A similar elastic section may be provided in the wallat the opposite side of the shoe, and these sections may be sewed inplace in the shoe by ordinary stitching 2|. The rows of pleats I I areshown in Fig. 6 as extending at approximately right angles to the upperedge l6 of the shoe, and these rows or pleats of leather add materiallyto the pleasing appearance of the shoe in addition to their primaryfunction of permitting this portion of the shoe to contract and expandto improve the fit of the shoe and accommodate the foot movement.

While the sheet Ill has been shown and described as pleated orcorrugated, it may be puckered or otherwise treated to cause it toaccommodate the contraction and expansion of the backing fabric l2, andwhile it is desirable in many cases to employ leather as the pleatedmaterial II], it will be understood that imitation leather, wovenfabric, and other sheet material may if desired be pleated or puckeredand employed in place of the fabric It] in forming elastic multi-plymaterial such as herein contemplated.

Should it be desirable to provide a two-way stretch multi-ply material,this may be done by employing a one-way stretch elastic fabric 22 suchas shown in the modified construction of Fig. 7 and which is providedwith the elastic yarns 23 shown as extending vertically in this view.The fabric 22 is pleated as shown in this view so that these pleats 24extend substantially parallel to the yarns 23. The effect of this is toimpart to the fabric 22 the property of stretching vertically and ofextending transversely. If the sheet 22 is then cemented to a two-waystretch elastic backing sheet 25 a multi-ply twoway stretch elasticmaterial will be produced. A two-way stretch, multi-ply elastic materialmay also be produced by puckering or otherwise distorting a non-elasticsheet so that it will be capable of extending both longitudinally andtransversely, and then securing this puckered sheet to a two-way stretchelastic fabric.

. It is -to'be understood that the invention is not limited to thespecific construction shown in the drawing and described in thespecification, as various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit thereof, and that the invention is not to be limitedexcept as required by the state of the art and as defined by theappended claims. i

Having thus described my invention What I claim and desire to protect byLetters Patent is:

1. A shoe having the upper thereof formed at least in part ofstretchable multi-ply sheet material comprising a sheet of pleatedleather backed with elastic fabric to yieldingly retain the leather inthe pleated condition, the pleated leather being attached to: theelastic fabric by an adhesive binder that secures only the spaced ribbedportions thereof to the fabric, said elastic multi-ply material havingits upper edge cut on a curved line, and said upper edge being providedwith a finishing bead formed of a narrow strip of elastic binding fabrichaving one edge positioned under the body of said strip to conceal thisedge at the outer face of the multi-ply material.

2. A shoe having the upper thereof formed at least in part ofstretchable multi-ply sheet material comprising a pleated sheet backedwith elastic fabric to yieldingly retain such sheet in the pleatedcondition, the pleated sheet being attached to the elastic fabric by anadhesive binder that secures only the spaced ribbed portions thereof tothe fabric, said elastic multi-ply material having its upper edge out ona curved line, and said upper edge being provided with an elasticfinishing bead formed of a; narrow strip of elastic binding fabrichaving one edge positioned under the body of said strip to conceal thisedge at the outer face of the multi-ply material, to thereby finish thiselastic portion of the shoe along its upper edge.

EDWARD F. ROBERTS.

